Ethiopia Plans to Improve Ease of Doing Business

• Ethiopia Plans to Improve Ease of Doing Business

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is working on improving ease of doing business in the country.

According to the Prime Minister’s office, it is part of the administration’s economic reform plan to enhance the business environment.

A good business environment and finance, according to the PM, will help in “tackling structural problem of unemployment.”

Ethiopia, the second most populous African nation, suffers high unemployment rate.

The PM also stressed the importance of affordable loans to startups, explaining that a revision of the lending practices will boost businesses and job creation in the country.

The ten key indicators in improving Ethiopia’s ease of doing business rating are focused on:
1. Starting a business
2. Construction permits
3. Registering property
4. Getting electricity
5. Getting credit
6. Paying taxes
7. Trading across borders
8. Resolving insolvency
9. Protecting minority rights
10. Enforcing contracts

“Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed stressed that cutting bureaucratic bottlenecks in these processes will enable focus investment areas of electricity, mining, housing, manufacturing and Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s) to be effective,” his office added in a tweet.

Since the prime minister took office in April 2018, Ethiopia has been undergoing a series of reforms. Under the economic reform sector, Abiy has reiterated his resolve to open up a hitherto government-controlled economic space.